The Crucible, the famous and passionate play about the Salem Witch Trials during the 1690s, written by Arthur Miller is an allegory to to the McCarthy Trials of the 1950s. An allegory is a story with two levels of meaning - literal and symbolical. In an allegory, the characters, events and instances all relate to real people, events, and instances (“Definition of Allegory” R104). Characters like Abigail Williams, John Proctor and Judge Hathorne represent the historical figures: Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, writer Arthur Miller, and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Constant manipulation to confess and to implicate others as well as using Elizabeth’s pregnancy to get a confession out of John was a very similar situation Miller and his fiance as well as the actions to all others accused. Instances in Salem like the creation of the court and the ruining of people’s reputations once they were accused or had confessed are like the House Un-American Activities Committee and being blacklisted during McCarthyism. Miller wrote The Crucible as an allegory to show the effects of letting fear of the unknown take over one’s common sense, to teach that defending what is right brings peace within oneself, and to criticize the fast turn to
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The constant suggestions for ways to make a confession without ever meaning to were, in both decades of panic, the reason for refueling of the fire multiple times. The betrayal amongst neighbors or friends out of, sometimes, genuine fear. When Tituba realized that Putnam and Parris want names and not just to hurt her, she was not hesitant to quickly accept the constant suggestions of the people Putnam held grudges toward (Miller 161-162). This same pattern is seen many times again in the play because just that way, in real life, the accused of communist relations were pressured to name more comsymps, which was incredibly just
The constant suggestions for ways to make a confession without ever meaning to were, in both decades of panic, the reason for refueling of the fire multiple times. The betrayal amongst neighbors or friends out of, sometimes, genuine fear. When Tituba realized that Putnam and Parris want names and not just to hurt her, she was not hesitant to quickly accept the constant suggestions of the people Putnam held grudges toward (Miller 161-162). This same pattern is seen many times again in the play because just that way, in real life, the accused of communist relations were pressured to name more comsymps, which was incredibly just